500 days of Alex
by effyrodriguez
Summary: Alex is diagnosed with cancer and has less than 500 days to live. He requests Erik to help him find his brother before he dies.
1. Chapter 1

"Alex may I have a word." Charles walks over to Alex.

"Of course professor." Charles motions for Alex to sit down but Alex remains standing.

"How are you feeling?" Alex doesn't respond at first and the room continues to remain in silence.

"I'm fine." Alex stumbles over his words and Charles looks concerned.

"Alex I don't even have to read your mind to know that you're not fine." Charles yells.

"Then why ask a question you already know the answer to?" Alex throws his hands in the air.

"Why haven't you said anything?" Charles crosses his arms over his chest.

"I know you have a lot on your plate and I didn't want to burden you with a petty illness." Alex shifts his gaze to the floor and puts his hands in his pockets.

"But that's just it Alex mutants rarely get sick this could be something serious." Charles says his voice laced with worry.

"What do you want me to do?" Alex seems a bit frightened.

"Let Hank examine you tonight just to be sure." Charles gives him a reassuring smile noticing Alex is scared.

"If I say yes will you let me leave." Charles nods his head and Alex storms out of the room. Alex bumps into Erik on the way out but keeps walking muttering things to himself.

"What was that all about?" Erik looks at Alex as he walks away.

"I hope nothing too serious." Erik looks a bit worried. "Alex is sick."

"Should he be training?" Charles shrugs his shoulders.

"I tried to tell him to take a break but he refused." Charles sighs. "Can you keep an eye on him? I don't want him to overwork himself even if it's just a minor illness."

"I'll do my best." Erik makes his way to the weight room knowing that's Alex's favorite place. As he enters he sees Alex leaning against the wall for support.

"You alright?" Alex looks up to see Erik hovering over him.

"I'm fine." Alex tries to move away but almost falls and Erik catches him before his head hits the floor.

"You were saying." Alex stares at Erik and Erik sees the pain in Alex's eyes. Erik runs his fingers through Alex's damp hair and pulls him closer to his body.

"I don't feel right." Alex mumbles into Erik's shirt and as he pulls away black dots swarm his vision.

"Let's get you to bed." Erik slowly tries to help Alex up but Alex leans forward and vomits on the floor.

"I'm sorry." Alex says before he blacks out. When Alex awakes he sees Hank, Erik, and Charles talking but their voices are muffled. He tries to sit up but a sharp pain shoots throughout his body and he cries out in pain.

"Alex you need to calm down." Hank is gently pushing him back down.

"What did the tests say?" Hank looks away knowing that Alex will be devastated.

"You have cancer." Erik beats Hank to the punch.

"Get out!" Hank is taken back but Erik stands there as if he was expecting Alex to act this way.

"You're not going to question or...

"I said get out." Alex snarls. Charles leads Hank and Erik out the door and gently closes the door behind him. Once they leave Alex lets the tears fall and cries himself to sleep.

* * *

"What do you want me to say?" Erik stands there puzzled.

"Anything that'll bring him back to us." Charles says. "He can't face this alone."

As Erik makes his way to Alex's room he's surprised to see that the door is wide open. As he cautiously makes his way inside he sees Alex pacing around the room.

"Charles sent you to fetch me then." Alex stops pacing and looks at Erik.

"He's worried about you…we're all worried about you." Erik admits.

"Well your wasting your time." Alex pinches the bridge of his nose.

"You haven't been out of this room for two weeks Alex you're just making your situation worse." Alex rolls his eyes. "This isn't healthy."

"I thought you would understand." Alex says.

"Understand what exactly?" Erik asks.

"I'm dying Erik I don't want to cause you any more pain." Alex looks away as the tears start to fall.

"What are you talking about?" Erik moves closer to Alex.

"The more time I spend with you guys the more you all will get attached." Alex lets out a strangled sob. "I'm just trying to make it easier to let go." Erik wraps his arms around Alex and Alex continues to cry.

"You should be living life to its fullest." Erik rubs his hands up and down Alex's back trying to calm him down. "Don't mind us."

"Would you be willing to do something for me?" Alex pulls away from Erik's grasp.

"Depends on what you want me to do." Erik seems intrigued.

"Will you help me find my brother?"


	2. Chapter 2

Day 12

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I should take you back." Erik is rubbing circles on Alex's back as Alex is leaned over the toilet puking what's left of breakfast.

"I'll be alright just give me a couple minutes." Alex lets his head rest on the wall behind the toilet enjoying the cold touch to his overheated body.

"Look at the state of you." Erik places a damp cloth on Alex's forehead and sees the bags under his eyes. "You're a complete mess."

"You made a promise Erik." Erik hears the strain in Alex's voice.

"I'm not very good at keeping promises." Alex tries to glare at Erik but only manages to grimace in pain.

"Please Erik I need to find him." Alex says between gasps. Erik just nods his head and Alex rests his head on Erik's shoulder.

Day 25

"I don't understand how you and Charles can play this for hours." Alex is staring at the chess pieces.

"It's very entertaining just takes patience." Alex rolls his eyes. "And you my friend have none."

"Stop being so cheeky." Erik lets out a laugh. "Can we just do something else?" Alex runs his hands through his hair.

"Like what?" Erik puts the chess board away.

"Watch the stars." Alex scratches the back of his head.

"You think watching stars is more entertaining than chess?" Alex turns his back to Erik and walks over to the window. Erik watches as he puts his hand on the glass.

"I know it sounds stupid but it's what my family used to do." Erik feels slightly bad.

"Ok let's go then." Alex smiles as Erik leads him out to the truck. Alex struggles to get on top of the hood but Erik helps him up and Alex puts his hand behind his head. "I'm sorry." Alex turns to face Erik.

"It's alright you didn't know." Erik doesn't believe him and Alex reaches for Erik's hand. "I guess that's what we both have in common…we're both alone." Alex squeezes Erik's hand.

"Yeah we are." Erik leans forward and gently kisses Alex. Alex is in pure shock and realizes he's kissing back. As Alex pulls away he jumps off the truck and runs to the hotel room.

Day 26

"You're avoiding me Alex." Alex freezes and turns to face Erik.

"No I'm not." Erik raises his eyebrows.

"Yes you are and I know why." Alex gives him a weird look. "So we don't have to talk about last night's kiss." Alex blushes a little. "We don't have to talk about it unless you want to."

"No I don't want to talk about it because if I do then I have to explain why I enjoyed it so much." Alex admits.

"Have you ever kissed a guy before?" Erik seems intrigued.

"I'm not talking about this with you." Alex yells.

"Why not?" Alex glares at Erik but he just shrugs his shoulders.

"Cause I like you…why are being so talkative all of the sudden?" Erik makes his way over to Alex. "You hate making small talk."

"So do you but here we are." Erik is mere inches away from Alex and Alex feels like his heart is going to burst. Erik moves in for a kiss but Alex stops him.

"Don't." Erik stares at Alex confused.

"Why not?" Alex takes Erik's hand in his and places it over his heart. Erik feels Alex's heart as it beats 10x faster than it normally does.

"I don't think I can stop if I let you." Erik smirks and smashes his lips against Alex's. Erik pushes Alex up against the wall never breaking the kiss and Alex lets out a moan. Alex wraps his legs around Erik's waist trying to bring him even closer.

Day 134

"I don't think I can do this." Alex is staring at himself in the mirror.

"Alex he's here there's no turning back now." Erik wraps his arms around Alex's waist while planting kisses down his neck.

"What am I supposed to say?" Alex closes his eyes as Erik continues to kiss him. "I'm so glad that I found you but I'm not going to be here for too long so enjoy me while you still can."

"Don't stress about it." Erik keeps nibbling on his skin and Alex can't help but let out a moan. "You'll know what to say when you see him."

"Stop." Alex pushes Erik away and starts getting dressed. "You better get dressed too we don't want Charles to be putting us on dish duty again for being late to breakfast." Alex throws Erik's shirt at his face.

As Alex and Erik enter the kitchen they see Scott waving his hand for them to come sit by him.

"What took you guys so long?" Alex blushes and Erik shakes his head.

"Yes what did take you guys so long?" Charles puts his newspaper down and looks over at them.

"We forgot to set the alarm clock." Charles rolls his eyes and Scott starts laughing.

"Scott can I talk to you after breakfast." Scott looks at Alex confused.

"Why can't you just tell me now?" Alex lets out a sigh.

"It's not really a subject I can bring about at the kitchen table." Alex says hoping Scott will understand.

"Ok." Scott continues to eat his breakfast.

After breakfast Alex takes Scott to his room. Scott plops down on the bed and Alex sits beside him.

"What do you want to talk about?" Scott stares at the ceiling.

Alex takes a deep breath though that doesn't do much to calm him down. "I'm dying Scott." Alex blurts out.

"What do you mean?" Scott sits up and sees a tear fall down Alex's face.

"I'm not going to be here for that long but I need you to be brave and live life." Scott gets up from the bed his fists clenched.

"Why did you come and find me then?" Scott yells. "Why bother interfering with my life if you're just going to leave it again?"

"Do you think I want to leave you…you're all I have left." Alex lets out a painful sob and Scott goes to hug his brother. Alex clings on to him scared to let go.


	3. Chapter 3

Day 170

"How is he?" Erik makes the first move on the chess board.

"He's doing well." Charles notices that Erik is avoiding making eye contact with him. "I've never seen him this happy."

"That's good but are you doing the right thing?" Erik grips the edge of the table.

"What are you going on about?" Charles muscles tighten at the harsh tone.

"I just think that you're getting too attached." Charles moves the chess piece and feels Erik's eyes on him.

"You want me to break up with him." Charles knows he's not going to get much further with this conversation.

"It's for the best." Erik gets up from the table. "I'm not trying to be the bad guy in this situation I'm just preparing you for what's to come."

"I love him Charles it's too late to go back." Erik throws the chess board on the floor and the pieces go flying.

"Do you really love him though or are you forcing yourself to believe in something that isn't real." Charles starts to pick up the mess.

"Goodnight Charles." Erik storms out of the library and Charles continues to pick the pieces off the floor.

Day 204

"You really didn't have to do this." Hand in hand Alex leads Erik to the kitchen table.

"I know but I wanted to." Alex pulls out a chair for Erik.

"Where are the others?" Erik takes a seat and can't help but smile at Alex's effort to make a romantic meal for them.

"Charles took them to the cinema." Alex takes a deep breath. "It's just us."

"Have you ever wondered what things would be like if it was just the two of us?" Erik takes a sip of his wine.

"Many times but I know that I would never change a thing." Alex says and reaches for his glass.

"Even if I asked you to come live with me." Alex chokes on his drink.

"You want to leave?" Alex says between coughs.

"I feel we're being held back here if we were to leave there would be nothing stopping us." Erik takes Alex's hand in his.

"What about Scott?" Alex tightens his grip.

"Scott can come too." Alex knows that he's already lost the battle.

"Where would we go?" Alex tries to imagine what life would be like.

"Wherever you want to go." Erik moves a stray hair from Alex's eyes.

"I don't know what to say?" Alex notices the closeness between them.

"Don't say anything." Erik leans in and kisses Alex.

Day 212

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Scott is inspecting the blob on the kitchen table.

"Yes I'm sure." Erik continues to put frosting on the cake.

"That doesn't look like a cake to me." Scott lets out a laugh. "Maybe we should go and buy one?"

"Can you stop talking?" Erik slams his hands on the table.

"Fine but I don't understand why Alex likes you?" Scott dips his finger in the frosting. "You're always grumpy." Erik glares at Scott. "Sorry."

"What's this?" Alex yawns.

"What are you doing here?" Erik and Scott are covered in flour and Scott does his best to hide the cake.

"I was thirsty." Alex makes his way to the fridge.

"Oh." Erik just stands there and Scott nudges him but Erik makes no effort to say anything.

"This is Erik's attempt at making you a birthday cake." Scott says and points to the cake behind him.

"It's lovely." even as Alex says this his voice cracks.

"What do you really think of it?" Erik looks at Alex hopefully.

"Well it's not that bad." Alex admits. "It still looks edible."

"I told him to just buy one." Scott says.

"I hate to say this but you should of listened to Scott." Erik rolls his eyes.

"I guess you'll be doing all the cooking at our new home." Erik sighs and Alex wraps his arms around his waist.

"Seems like it." Alex winks at Scott.

Day 228

"Alex?" Erik looks at Alex as he stares off into space.

"What is it?" Alex continues to stare at the wall behind them.

"Scott was just asking if you want the walls to be painted blue." Erik does his best to show that he's not worried.

"Yea that's fine." Alex says.

"Are you alright?" Erik finally asks.

"I'm just tired don't worry about me." Alex makes his way to the bedroom. "I think I'm going to go to bed early if that's alright with you." Erik nods his head even though Alex had already left the room.

Erik and Scott continue with their conversation knowing that it's just one of days where Alex shuts himself from reality. Erik worries though as Alex has been experiencing them more often. Erik feels that Alex is already embracing death and that one day he might fall asleep and never wake up. Scott notices the toll Alex's state has on Erik but doesn't say anything. Erik retires for the night too and as he makes his way to the bed he sees that Alex is still awake.

"I'm sorry Erik." Alex starts crying uncontrollably and Erik does his best to soothe him. Alex keeps saying those three words and Erik keeps shushing him planting kisses along his face.


End file.
